Effect of External Factors on Completion of Construction Projects in Kenya: A Case Study of the Department of Health, Makueni County, Kenya

The completion of construction projects is dependent on a project cycle that is seamless to ensure reliability. External factors in the study included political factors, socio-economic factors and technological factors. The objectives were the effect of political, socio-economic and technological factors on the completion of construction projects in the department of health, Makueni County, Kenya. The theoretical framework included the theory of constraints and the resource dependency theory. The target population was the 238 projects in health facilities in Makueni county initiated between financial year 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. The respondents were the facility managers who are also the Health Facility Project Management Committee secretaries. Cross sectional Descriptive study approach was utilized in this study. A stratified sampling approach was used. The sample size was 150 projects. Primary data was gathered using a structured questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to determine association between variables. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effect of significant external factors on completion of construction projects. Statistical significance was assumed at P<0.05. Majority of the study participants were aged between 31.0 and 40.0 years old (56.0%), were nurses (77.3%), had managed their facility for over 5 years (74.7%) and were working in a Dispensary (77.3%). The male and female participant ratio was 1:1. There was less likelihood of the projects being completed in the presence of political involvement, transition in leadership, and contract payment (OR 0.1, 0.7 and 0.3 respectively). Political involvement and contract payment were found to be statistically significant when it came to project not being completed (p 0.001 and p 0.004 respectively). Raw material availability was significantly associated with completion of projects (p 0.03). Multivariate analysis showed increased odds of completing construction projects from 2.7 to 5.3 times when raw materials were available. The study concluded that political factors and socio-economic factors significantly affect completion of construction projects. The study recommends that key stakeholders involved in the construction management process such as politicians be taken through monitoring and evaluation training to ensure that projects are well management and all risks averted. The researcher recommends a comparative study on the effect of technological factors on completion of construction projects. Keywords: Health Facility, Project, External, Political, Socio-economic, Technological CITATION: Kibore, A., Kirima, L., & Kamau, J. (2024). Effect of external factors on completion of construction projects in Kenya: A case study of the department of health, Makueni County, Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management , 11 (2), 758 – 766. http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v11i2.2934